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Craig is at his best, when showing despair, exhaustion or pain. There's no question about it, I even would put him over Connery in those departments.
Luckily for Craig, CR, QOS and SF are full of such moments.
Perhaps my perspective is altered by my interest in the topic, having did some research on nonverbal communication and body language in undergrad studies. When I see acting like that, I can't connect with it as thoroughly.
Edit: This is another instance of showing criticism to a Bond I rank in my top 10. I really only said anything because I see it gets unchecked praise without grounding some of it into reality. The acting by Lazenby in it was simply not exemplary and that in large part is why I rank it in the bottom of my top 10 instead of at the top.
:)>- nah it's not.
I'd rate 21 movies 8.0 or higher. 12 over 9.0.
Only QOS and DAF get lower ratings. DAF 6.5, QOS 7.5
It's a common phenomena that happens in every day life with the fake smile. A smile made with the emotion of joy, happiness, tenderness, what have you will always be accompanied by upward folding marks around the eyes. When those emotions are not felt and a smile is made, those marks are not present. The reason is because they are two separate muscle groups and it is difficult (albeit possible) to control them both consciously. That's how I can tell he isn't acting the way he felt when he read the last chapter of the novel because he is only working the one muscle group.
That doesn't mean it's not believable either. People buy fake smiles all the time. That's why people do them.
I haven't done the kind of research or study into this sort of thing to understand all the intonations or facial movements and their meaning, however. I think my feeling is a subconscious one (picking up on Lazenby's body language without knowing it) because just looking at the scene, it seems fine.
Regarding his overall performance in OHMSS, I thought it was ok. Not brilliant. Not bad. Just ok. He must be credited for stepping into probably the biggest shoes to fill at that time and doing a half decent job, especially given his limited acting skills. I am not convinced however that he would have been able to take the role further in future films.....including a possible alternate universe revenge driven DAF.....because he appeared to me at least to have a limited acting range in OHMSS.
I'm glad we got his one film, and that it was a different and meaningful one, making his brief time in the role all the more memorable.
Sometimes I think it's harder to appear as a credible Bond in a lighter tone casual Bond picture because in such instances a lot of the focus is on Bond himself (sometimes to save/carry the film), thereby showing up any cracks in the actor's portrayal more obviously. That's my view anyway.
Personally I thought Lazenby had great screen charisma for James Bond. I was very impressed with him. Brosnan and Dalton actually less so, in this regard. Regarding Brosnan, I personaly feel a lot of his charisma comes from his acting (as opposed to his presence), and in the case of Bond, he was sort of straightjacketed (based on how he likes to act/is more comfortable acting vs. what the role requires) so he did not show his best side. To me he is much more charismatic in non-Bond roles (Tailor of Panama, The Thomas Crown Affair, After the Sunset, The Ghost Writer).
I certainly agree on that last part. The knowing respectful glance/acknowledgement he and Moneypenny give each other before he leaves is as good as it gets in a Bond film. Pure gold.
Rigg is definitely dynamite. Like Green.
Never understand this admiration. Look at the PTS (or most action sequences.) Lazenby swings like a girl, it's not even a punch-shaped delivery. It'd be fine for boxing somebody's ears if you used both arms. Plus, for a guy in good shape, he doesn't move great (when he is told to get into that little boat, he has to bend his leg out to one side inside of just step up, which is about as UNBond as you can get.
The almost automatic credibility Connery brings to most of Bond is pretty much entirely absent in Lazenby, except some of the bedroom stuff.
Since I bought the dvd, I find it hard to watch all the way through, but I do love seeing single sequences (which is actually how I watch most 'genuine' Bond films that I don't consider to be good ones ... you watch the Ken Adam stuff or the Derek Meddings stuff, or the sequences that Barry really did a number on, and move on.)
Agreed.
Maxwell brought out the best in Lazenby. In that respect, she outacted the other actors in the film.
I agree. There are people here that hate the Craig era, hate Moore, hate 3 of the 4 Brosnan films and pick opportunities to bash them at any chance.
That's the other side of it. There aren't many I have a hard time watching, but there also aren't many that are Academy Award type movies or feature great performances outside of it being just a Bond film. I thought Casino Royale was on that level and Skyfall was close as well. Eventually, I think the budget of these newer films will push newer Bonds towards more award consideration. The franchise is just outworking other action/adventure contenders.
That alone may not be controversial.
But this may be:
The Bond movie that is closest to bad is Diamonds Are Forever.
I guess this is what I was trying to target with the Awards comment, though I get your point…even a truly great Bond movie might not win an award because of politics.
Only because of the billion dollars.
Or does anybody really believe Avatar, Titanic, The Dark Knight or LOTR 3 would have gotten Academy Award nominations let alone winning them* if those movies hadn't been that successful??
*technical awards, like special effects, sound editing etc. not counted.
Category 1:
"You can't protect me from him/them."
Rosie, Anders, Paris, Chick in the TWINE PTS, Vesper*, Severine
Category 2:
"Let's go"
Honey, Tatiyana, Tiffany, Solitaire, Melina, Kara, Natalya, Christmas
[In the interest of full disclosure, Teresa had the "ride or die" spirit and well…died. Plus, Lupe appears not to have cursed herself despite uttering the magic words. But the trend overall is real. The ladies need to participate in their rescue and maintain a positive mental attitude.]
She is a fully developed character with a decent backstory (no pun intended) that ties her strongly to the plot of QoS.
Olga did a great job of portraying her. It would be good if she popped up again at some point in the series' future, if just for a cameo or extended sequence.
I agree completely.